First of all, let me point out the academically criminal habit Hyatt always engages in, which is pretending to be quoting a source when the source is just himself. So, Hyatt writes something ridiculous and then sources it in an article such as this. Thus, he promotes the book the quote comes from while duping those that do not realize he is quoting himself, into thinking he has "researched" the topic. He has not. He notion that America was always known as Christian is equally silly. Were there more Christians percentage wise in the 1700s? Sure, but that was the case around the world as well. Mormonism, which has 17 million people today did not start until the 1800s, for example. The other habit Eddie is fond of is finding selective quotes and then broadly applying them as if that opinion was the norm. for every quote he might be able to scrounge for, I can find two on the other side as well. John Marshall may have indeed felt this way about Christianity but he also owned slaves his entire life, aggressively purchasing them.
'This fact was also stated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1892 in the case of Church of the Holy Trinity vs The United States. After examining thousands of historical documents, the nation's highest court declared, There is no dissonance in these declarations. There is a universal language pervading them all, having one meaning. They affirm and reaffirm that this is a religious nation . . . From the discovery of this continent to the present hour, there is a single voice making this affirmation. These and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian nation (Hyatt, 6-7). This reality was expressed in American culture by Bible reading and prayer being common occurrences in all kinds of public settings since the nation's founding. Until the 1960s, it was common for school days, school activities, sporting events, city council meetings and other public events to be opened with prayer. Bible verses, crosses and Ten Commandment displays were common on public property. The nation was shocked, therefore, when, in two Supreme Court rulings, Engel vs. Vitale (1962) and Abingdon School District vs. Schempp (1963), the nation's highest court banned school-sponsored prayer and Bible reading in the public schools of America. This ruling was based on a contorted and novel interpretation of the First Amendment that reads, "Congress shall make no law concerning the establishment of religion, or hindering the free exercise thereof."' - Eddie Hyatt
Once again, this country is not a theocracy and we have not been charged with making it one. Here is today's deep theology, if God is no respecter of person, then He is certainly no respecter of country. Bible reading was not banned in the Engel and Schempp decisions. School sponsored bible reading, and prayer was. Despite what Eddie thinks, this nation was never a Christian nation. There have always been other religions allowed in and encouraged to emigrate. One of the principal reasons why early settlers came was to escape religious persecution. If one understands our history, then we realize that the Supreme Court decisions in the 60's were born out of the increase in bat-poop crazy fundamentalism under the McCarthy era. Men with weak ideas and morals have always leveraged the bible to recruit Christians just like we see today. Two of the things that people like Hyatt like to point to as proof of our Christian heritage as a nation is "under God" in the pledge and "In God We Trust" on the currency. The problem is both of those things did not emerge until the red scare of the 1950s. the bottom line here is there is nothing "Christian" about forcing children to pray, especially if they do not come from Christian families. What is also comical here is that Hyatt just finished extolling John Marshall and is now bashing the court. So, it is a bastion of goodness when it agrees with Hyatt and reprehensible otherwise. Got it.
'This ruling opened the floodgates of anti-Christian activism. Since that time, lawsuits filed by atheist/secularist organizations have resulted in the removal of crosses, Ten Commandment displays and other Christian expressions from public property. Veterans groups and military chaplains have been told they cannot pray in the name of Jesus. A high school band in Mississippi was ordered by a judge to remove "How Great Thou Art" from the repertoire of songs they played at football games and other school events. The ACLJ, a law firm that defends many of these cases, has said, "Atheists and anti-Christian extremists continuously rush to court, claiming to be offended." This crusade to de-Christianize America came starkly out into the open when President Barak Obama announced to a Turkish audience on April 6, 2009, "America is not a Christian nation."' - Eddie Hyatt
The blatant lying continues. The actual quote from Obama was that we are "no longer JUST a Christian nation." So, irony of ironies, Obama's quote actually agrees with Hyatt's premise that we were once a Christian nation! The 2009 quote says similarly that we are not just a Christian nation or a Muslim nation but rather a nation bound by certain ideals. He correctly points out that there are many different cultures now comprising the American melting pot. Lie number four is in regard to How Great Thou Art. If Hyatt had bother to research, he would have discovered that a student sued the school board and won for violations of his first amendment rights regarding many Christian influences on education in that state. The state was then fined the following year for prayer at the graduation ceremony. The school board, NOT a judge, decided to no longer sing How Great Thou Art. It was removed by choice, not banned by a judge. Hyatt and the NAR still doesn't get this. Not everyone shares out faith. Narrow is the path, and few are those who find it. Forcing the unsaved, especially children, to behave like Christians, or say things that might sound Christian, saves nobody.
"In addition to the attack on Christian speech and symbols, there has been a purposeful revising of America's history, eliminating the stories of faith that are so common in the nation's founding. This attempt to redefine America by rewriting her history is a vital part of the secularist goal to fundamentally transform the America of Washington, Jefferson, Madison and Lincoln." - Eddie Hyatt
In Freudian terms, this is known as "projection." All Hyatt engages in is a rewrite of history! So, let's start with the founding fathers he references here. Hyatt is fond of trying to morph poor George Washington into an Evangelical, but the reality is that he was a Mason of the highest order. Masonry stood opposed to Christianity. It claims to be the "essence of all religions." Even though it appears that towards the end of his life, Washington softened his stance with Christianity, he still owned slaves his entire life and left them to his wife. Madison is credited with saying that religion was a matter of individual conscience and could not be directed by the government in any way. This seems very much opposed to the Eddie Hyatt position. Lincoln's history is a bit spotty. He often quoted scripture and also wrote against Christianity. He actually lost a Congressional race because he was perceived as hostile to Christianity. This led him to be more private about his faith for the rest of his life. The one that truly stands out here is Thomas Jefferson. Why Eddie continues to lift him up is mind boggling. Thomas Jefferson was a deist at best. He denied the divinity of Christ, denied he was the son of God, and rewrote the bible removing His miracles and deistic references. This is the problem Hyatt has in trying to recreate history. There are just too many stubborn facts. Google the Jefferson Bible for yourself. Now, there were true believers among the founders, including John Adams for example but to pretend they were all holding tent meeting revivals is disingenuous at best and flat out lying at worst.
"Nations derive their sense of identity from their history. Remove or revise a people's history and those people are then vulnerable to be molded into something new and different. This is what Karl Marx was referring to when he wrote, "People without a heritage are easily persuaded."
The most recent attempt to dismantle Christianity in America by rewriting her past is the 1619 Project of The New York Times. Supposedly instituted to commemorate the arrival of the first African slaves to America in 1619, its stated goal is to "reframe" American history by claiming that 1619, not 1776, represents the country's true founding. According to the 1619 Project, America is racist and corrupt at its core and in need of fundamental change. Slavery, to be sure, is a blight on America's history. However, because of 1726, America is not defined by what happened in 1619. The Great Awakening that began in 1726 broke down racial and cultural barriers and unleashed the spiritual and moral forces that eventually brought an end to slavery in America. It also had a direct bearing on the founding of this nation." - Eddie Hyatt
